Domino VR is leaving Early Access (finally)

Sorry for the silence

Domino VR came out in Early Access in August 2016. After a burst of updates, the last one landed in September 2016, and then I went quiet. You deserved better than that, and I'm sorry.

I made the game alone as a student. The code went fine, but art was out of my depth, so it mostly ended up as placeholder shapes. I'd hoped sales would pay for an artist and that a community would grow around it, but neither happened, and halfway through a big update I lost my motivation. The game was always shown as it was, but Early Access comes with the expectation that someone is still working on it. I should have told you I wasn't.

In the years since, I mostly moved away from making games, but the urge to create something never left. Getting a Steam Frame recently was the push I needed, and the old, buggy Domino VR still sitting on the store felt like the right place to start.

So I rebuilt it

Over the past weeks I rebuilt Domino VR from scratch. Same idea (a fun domino sandbox), but almost everything else is new.

To be upfront: I had a lot of help from AI this time (LLMs). It wrote a big part of the code, starting from my original game, made bigger features like multiplayer possible for one person, and helped build some of the 3D models in Blender. The ideas, decisions and testing are mine, down to knocking over a lot of dominoes. I know AI is a sensitive topic, so I'd rather tell you myself. I hope you'll judge the game by how it plays.

What's new:

• Works on current headsets and controllers through OpenXR, no more Vive-only touchpad controls
• Better physics, real-scale dominoes and thousands of them at once
• New art: a workshop, a reworked forest island and a main menu in space
• Puzzle levels with stars (12 for now but I'd like to add more before release)
• Lots of new contraptions: seesaw, pendulum, conveyor belt, fan, domino blaster and more
• Save your worlds and share them on the Steam Workshop
• Build together with friends
• A native Steam Frame version

What 1.0 means

1.0 is intended to be the finished version of Domino VR. It's a free update if you already own the game. When 1.0 comes out, there will be a price increase. The game is a lot bigger now, but I still want it to be cheap enough that anyone can just pick it up.

After 1.0 I'll keep fixing bugs, but I'm not planning big new features. I want to be clear about that this time.

That's also because I'm already working on my next VR (and PC) game. I can't say much yet, only that there are a lot fewer dominoes in it and a lot more cheese. Before going all in on that I wanted to finish this one properly. It was my first game and it didn't deserve to just stop.

When?

Soon. I'm testing close to final builds now. If you follow the game or have it on your wishlist, Steam will let you know.

About the current version

The version on Steam right now is still the old build from 2016. It was made for the original HTC Vive and that's the only headset it really works with. On Index, Quest and other headsets the controls don't work properly.

So if you don't have a Vive, please wait for 1.0 before buying.

If you already own the game, thanks for your patience. And if you're reading this, leave a comment, even if it's just a quick hello. Did you play the old version back in 2016? I'd love to know who's still out there.

woutwoot